


more than friends (and sometimes less than lovers)

by Ailerua



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types
Genre: Drabble, First Date, Jealousy, M/M, Minor Injuries, Party, Slow Dancing, Underage Drinking, Workout, aquarium date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-01 19:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,445
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20382235
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ailerua/pseuds/Ailerua
Summary: A series of disconnected bartuardo drabbles based on asks and prompt requests!





	1. Dance

Joan had always said Bart had two left feet.

If good dancing was in the Flash family genetics, he got stuck with the recessive genes. Before he was taken away from his parents during the Reach apocalypse, he remembered them slow-dancing in the kitchen to somber love songs from the 80s, only illuminated by the dim, broken-down kitchen lights. And before Joan became sick, she and Jay would put on a vinyl record from time to time and dance in the living room to upbeat swing tunes from the 30s.

Bart always tried, he really did. But every time Joan took a step forward, he’d take two steps back, and he’d end up tripping over his own feet and messing up the rhythm, causing her and Jay to laugh at his expense- all in good nature, of course. To his credit, no one ever taught him how to formally dance; they just assumed he’d pick it up quickly. The only thing that was quick was his realization of his temperament, which wasn’t really suited for learning dance moves; he’d get frustrated and divert his attention elsewhere.

Naturally, Bart had his reservations about dancing. So when he received a flyer for the Winter Ball at school, Bart all but shoved the paper into the depths of his backpack, determined to forget about it until it passed.

*

“Hey, I thought I’d be the first one here.” Bart chirped as he beamed in through the Zeta tube. The Hollywood tower was empty except for Eduardo, who was humming a tuneless song in the kitchen. The Team had agreed to meet up in the tower for a movie night later that evening, but most of them had other things to take care of before getting to the tower.

“Well, you thought wrong. What’s going on?” Ed greeted Bart with a smile, chopping away at a few carrots. He was stuck on dinner duty that night, so he came early to prep the ingredients for his favorite Argentinian dish.

“Nada, amigo. You need any help in the kitchen, though?” Bart asked, distractedly rummaging through his bag to find his homework.

“I don’t think you could help if you wanted to.” Ed replied, tossing the carrots into a giant metal pot. “I still remember the time you burned water ‘cause you left it on the stove for too long.”

“Your loss.” Bart shrugged. He fished a piece of paper out of his backpack, hoping it was his history homework- but it was just the flyer he had buried deep in his backpack earlier. Bart balled up the paper as tight as he could and aimed it at the trashcan. He took a flashy shot but missed, and the crumpled flyer fell at Ed’s feet.

Ed put down his knife to pick up the flyer. He uncrumpled it and examined the colorful invitation to the school dance.

“’You are cordially invited to the annual Central City High School Winter Ball, this Saturday at 8:00 PM.’ You sure you wanna throw this out, hermano?” Ed asked, holding up the piece of paper.

“Eh, just toss it. I don’t need it.” Bart waved his hand carelessly.

“You’re not going?”

“Nah. It’s not my thing.” Bart flopped down on the couch and grabbed the remote, flipping through the channels available.

“Really?” Ed prodded, eyebrow cocked. “I’d think dances are totally your thing. Free food, free drinks, lots of friends.”

Bart turned to face Ed. “Well, yeah. But it’s a dance.”

“Uh, yeah.”

“A formal dance.”

“And?”

“I can’t dance.” Bart admitted. “I’m terrible at it.”

“That’s it?” Ed laughed, drying his hands on a small towel. “Then maybe I can help. I used to take dance lessons back in Argentina.”

“You? You took dance lessons?” Bart asked, incredulous. Ed didn’t really strike him as a dancer.

“Why so surprised? My grandpa made me take lessons as a kid before I came to America, said it’d build character. Besides, Argentinians love dancing, especially the tango.” Ed put his hands on his hips, tilting his head. “So much that we have our own version of it.”

“Dude, I can barely do the macarena. I’d literally fall on my face if I had to do the tango.” Bart shuddered, recalling watching Dancing With the Stars with Joan. The swift leg movements and intimate postures of the tango was too much for Bart, who had zero sense of rhythm and even less patience to learn the moves.

“Well, it takes two to tango, so I don’t think we can start with that even if we wanted to.” Ed chuckled. “I’ll teach you a basic four-step routine that most dances are built on.”

Bart shook his head. “No, it’s okay. Seriously. I’m not gonna go, anyway.”

“Either way, dancing’s a good life skill to have. You never know when the need to dance will arise. It could be a life-or-death situation.” Ed insisted.

“Life-or-death? When will I ever need to dance to save my life?”

“You act like you haven’t been through crazier situations.”

“Good point.”

Ed crossed the room to plant himself in front of Bart so the speedster couldn’t just walk away. At this distance, Bart noticed how much taller Ed was; he barely reached Ed’s nose when he stood up straight.

“It’ll be fun. We gotta wait for the carbonada to boil, anyway.” Ed smiled. Bart sighed. He couldn’t say no to that smile.

“Fine. You win.” He caved.

“Alright, so let’s talk basics.” Ed took Bart’s hands in his. Bart’s heart all but stopped- he knew it was coming but it didn’t make his feelings flutter any less. “In formal dances, there’s usually a guy and a girl, and the guy generally leads. But since we’re both guys, I’ll take the leading role, and I’ll teach you the following role afterwards.” 

“Uh-huh,” Bart choked out. Ed didn’t seem to notice Bart’s flustered response as he guided Bart’s left hand to his shoulder, and placed his own hand gently on Bart’s side. He’d gotten this far with Joan a few times before giving up, so he knew at least this much. But dancing with married 90-year-old Joan was different from dancing with someone he was developing feelings for.

“Alright, now I’ll show you the box step. I’m gonna take a step forward with my left foot. You step back with your right.” Ed instructed, sliding his left foot towards Bart. If stammering with one’s feet was possible, Bart was doing it.

“No, just one step. You just took, like, three steps back.”

Bart took a step back as he was told, looking down at their feet to make sure he was doing it properly. Easy enough for now.

“Good. Now I’m gonna slide my right foot forward so that it’s parallel to my left.” Ed said, going through the motions as he spoke. Bart followed suit. “You basically just have to mirror what I’m doing.”

“Got it.”

“Okay, now I’m gonna take a step back with my right foot, so you step forward with yours. And then I’m gonna bring my left foot back. No, step forward with your left, not your right. And don’t slouch.”

“Oops, my bad.”

Ed tightened his grip ever so slightly on Bart’s side to correct Bart’s posture and steps; whether it was conscious or not, Bart would never know.

“And now we just do those steps, over and over on repeat.” They repeated the simple steps a few more times before Bart stopped tripping over his own feet and getting his feet positions all messed up. A few minutes later, the two were dancing in perfect sync in the living room of the tower, dimly lit by the kitchen’s lighting.

“Hey, you’re doing it!” Ed gave Bart’s hand a squeeze.

“I’m really doing it! This is so crash.” Bart exclaimed, elated by the quick results.

“See? Not so hard, is it?” Ed grinned.

“Yeah. Is there anything Bart Allen can’t do?” Bart joked, still not taking his eyes off the floor.

“Or maybe you just have a good teacher.“ Ed rolled his eyes. “When you get better, you can add a few flairs that’ll change our movements slightly, depending on the dance. But honestly, this is all you need for a school dance.”

“Yup. No fancy steps needed. This is fine.”

“Speaking of which, who are you gonna ask to the Winter Ball?” Ed asked, now that Bart was getting the hang of it.

“Huh?” Bart felt his ears get red- he hadn’t expected Ed to ask him the million dollar question.

“I mean, it’s a dance, so you definitely need to bring a date.” Ed pointed out. Bart froze, realizing that Ed was right- he’d have to bring a date to the dance if he did go. Asking someone wasn’t the problem. The problem was that Ed, the one guy he remotely had an interest in asking to the dance, went to a completely different school across the country and had to work on weekend nights at the Youth Center. But he couldn’t unpack all that- not right then.

“I, uh,” Bart stammered, refusing to look Ed in the eyes. “I-I don’t really, um-“

“Wait, slow down, you’re going too-“

Bart had unconsciously speeded up the pace, throwing the entire momentum off. Ed tried his best to match Bart’s tempo, but his foot ended up snagging on Bart’s ankles. The harmony they established broke down in a matter of seconds, and two tripped over one another to result in Ed landing on top of Bart on the floor.

“-fast.” Ed managed to cushion Bart’s head with his hand and balance himself with his other arm just in time before he made contact with the floor. Bart’s eyes widened and he felt the blood rush to his head, as Ed loomed over him. He was so close that Bart could smell his fading cologne.

“You okay?” Ed asked, voice soft.

Bart snapped out of it.

“Y-yeah. Totally crash. You know what? On second thought, I’lll go to the dance. Yeah. Maybe I can just go to the dance and stuff my face.” Bart blurted, detaching himself from Ed, who looked confused. “I’m gonna go and, uh, do that now.”

He sped out of the living room and back into the Zeta tube, alerting the computer to Zeta him back to Central City so he could cool his head.

“But your dance is on Saturday! And what about movie night with the Team?” Ed called. The room was already empty by the time he finished his sentence, leaving Ed alone with an overflowing pot of carbonada and a slew of mixed feelings growing in his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to request a particular scene send me an ask over at Tumblr and I'll get to it slowly! I'm on a one-man mission to feed the bartuardo fandom lmao 
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/shangalangalang


	2. Injury

“Ow! Dude!”

“Hold still.”

Ed gingerly held the disinfectant-soaked cotton ball to the cut on Bart’s upper lip with one hand, and held Bart’s chin in the other to keep him still. The team had reconvened in the Bio-ship after an unsuccessful attempt at infiltrating a Bialyan weapons warehouse per Batman’s orders, after a tip-off about a new form of Cobra venom making its rounds amongst underground criminals. Unfortunately, the warehouse was heavily armed, and the team was overpowered considerably, forcing them to back up into the Bio-Ship and report back to Batman before there any more casualties arose.

Normally Bart’s accelerated healing would have taken care of his injuries in a heartbeat, but the Bialyan rebel forces had devised new meta-unfriendly toxins that slowed down one’s meta abilities temporarily- analysis courtesy of Khaji Da. One sucker punch to his face with toxin-coated brass knuckles knocked Bart far away enough for him to realize he wasn’t healing properly- and that his powers were significantly reduced.

“This is seriously so moded,” Bart flinched as the disinfectant seeped into his wound, bringing a sharp, stinging sensation to his lips. “No one bothered to give me a heads up about this stupid toxin- ouch!”

“If it hurts, it means it’s working.” Ed sighed, guiding Bart’s hand to the cotton so he could keep it there himself. He proceeded to treat the scrapes on Bart’s arms and knees from when he flew and skidded across the rocky ground. “You should have just stayed out of the way.”

“Hey, I was trying. That guy just happened to catch me by surprise.” Bart grumbled. Ed shrugged, packing away the rest of the first aid kid.

“Really? Because I remember a certain speedster rushing into the middle of those soldiers, saying it’d be easy to take them out. Overconfident much?” Jaime approached Bart, ruffling his hair.

“It’s a good thing Scarab was able to analyze the toxins quickly so we knew to get out of there.” Ed nodded. “Those weapons were bad news.”

“At least it’s only temporary, right?” Cassie swiveled in her seat to face Bart. “You’ll be up and running in less than 24 hours!”

“And at least the rest of the team managed to stay away after you warned us about the toxins in your system. You’re lucky we were able to bounce out of there with very little casualty.” Tim said, adjusting the coordinates of Bio-Ship back to the Watchtower.

“You’re welcome,” Bart muttered, slumping back in his seat.

“I mean, you’re the one who rushed in. This mission was supposed to be covert.” Tim crossed his arms, trying to keep a straight face to maintain a semblance of leadership.

“Not that these missions ever stay covert.” Virgil pointed out. Cassie snickered in agreement.

“Whatever. Anyway, let’s compare today’s notes.” Tim insisted, flopping back down in his chair.

The rest of the team followed suit and made their way back to the circle of seats Bio-Ship produced in the middle of the aircraft, discussing what to do with the new intel. Ed hung back to placate an irritated Bart.

“Come on, don’t look so down.” Ed insisted. “This is how it’s like for the rest of us on a daily basis. No super-speed to get us back on our feet immediately.”

“Yeah, well, I hate it.” Bart rolled his eyes.

“You know, you get cranky when you’re hurt. Good thing it’s not permanent.”

“Hey, critically injured person here? Give me a break.”

“You’re being dramatic. They’re just flesh wounds.”

“They’re not just flesh wounds! Flesh wounds can get infected, for your information. I learned that in biology last week. You have to really take care of your cuts, because there’s a whole lot of bacteria out there that can infiltrate your body and take you out from the inside-“

“Oh, speaking of which, looks like I missed a spot there.” Ed interrupted, leaning down to examine Bart’s face with a look of concern on his face. Bart tilted his head, confused.

“Where?”

Ed swooped in quickly, giving a chaste peck to Bart’s lips before straightening up with a sly smirk.

“Right there.”

“Dude! Can we, like, not flirt in the Bio-Ship?” Virgil groaned, happening to turn around at the exact moment of the kiss. Bart turned red, and Ed gave a playful laugh and a half-hearted apology, heading back to his own seat. Bart’s fingers made their way to his chapped lips, warmth still lingering on his cheeks.

Being injured wasn’t too terrible.


	3. Party

“Thought I might find you here.”

Ed approached Bart with a half-empty glass of mojito in his hand. He was leaning against the railings of the tower’s balcony overlooking the entire city of Hollywood, working on a bag of party-size chips he’d nabbed from the kitchen before wandering off. The speedster quickly straightened up.

“What’s up, dude? Shouldn’t you be inside with everyone?” Bart asked, speech garbled due to his mouth being full of chips.

“I could ask you the same question. Not feeling the party?” Ed sidled up next to Bart on the railing, enjoying the nice, cool breeze on his warm cheeks. The party was hosted by Gar and Perdita at the Tower specifically for the team in order to celebrate Gar’s contract termination from Goode World Studios. After exposing Granny Goodness’s Anti-Life plans to the public, he was finally able to free himself from Gretchen Goode’s manipulations, and was already in talks with other studios to sign him up for another television series.

“Nah. I mean, I was, until everyone started drinking. I can’t really get drunk like everyone else, so it was becoming a little too much.” Bart sighed. “Stupid fast metabolism.”

“Ah, right.”

“‘Sides, it was getting a little too hot in there, and I was getting hungry. Gar sure knows how to throw a party.”

“Tell me about it. Extravagant, too. I’ve only ever been to house parties with crappy beer, and this kid whips out a top-shelf bar out of nowhere. Completely unnecessary for a bunch of teenagers, in my opinion.” Ed chuckled, offering the glass to Bart. “Want a little bit, at least?”

Bart gingerly took the glass from Ed and took a sip of the mojito. It was sweet and refreshing, the slight tinge of mint lingering on his tongue.

“It’s good,” he admitted. Even though he couldn’t get drunk off of normal alcohol, it was still a nice drink.

“Mojitos are my favorite.” Ed said, mixing the drink around with the small straw.

“Wonder how your dad would react if he knew,” Bart grinned playfully.

“Please.” Ed rolled his eyes. “He’d freak out if I even so much as touch a can of beer. If he knew we were all here engaging in underage drinking, he’d have a heart attack.”

Bart looked out at the city again, the bright lights of the city twinkling in his eyes.

“What’s it like to be buzzed?” he asked, balancing his chin on his palm. “Assuming you are right now.”

“Un poquito,” Ed admitted. “I don’t know. It just feels…nice. Kind of like you’re floating. Music sounds great, dancing feels great. And if you’re really lucky, the next morning you’ll be throwing it all back up.”

“Sounds crash, amigo.” Bart laughed out loud. “Y’know, now that I think about it, it’s not entirely impossible. Getting a speedster drunk, I mean. Barry told me about this one time when he was younger, his friends made a ‘super shot’ where they basically just mixed a bunch of strong alcohol together. He was drunk for a solid minute before he sobered up again.”

Ed grimaced. “Well, on the bright side, at least the chances of you drinking and driving are slim to none.”

“Yup, no irresponsible activities on my end. Anyway, you didn’t answer my question. What are you doing out here? You have no excuses.” Bart prodded.

“Well, the girls wanted to play spin-the-bottle, so I dipped as soon as they started taking the guys hostage.” Ed grinned. “Teleportation really does come in handy.”

The idea of Ed kissing other members of the team, even if it was for fun, even as a simple and harmless mention, made Bart’s stomach churn.

“That’s good.”

“Good?”

“I mean, it’s good that you got out of there. So you didn’t have to, you know.”

“Didn’t have to what?” Ed smiled, knowing full well what Bart was trying to say. They’d been dancing around their feelings for months, but in general, their flirting would dissipate as soon as it blossomed. It was pretty common knowledge that the two had a thing, and they knew it too- but they never acted upon it enough for it to go anywhere.

“You know what I mean.” Bart muttered, flustered. He was confident when the flirting was on his terms, but he always seemed to fall apart on the receiving end.

“I really don’t.” Ed insisted. He really got a kick out of teasing Bart.

“You’re really gonna make me say it?” Bart groaned.

“Yup.” Ed responded, popping the ‘p’ obnoxiously.

“Four-letter word, starts with a K?”

“That can be a lot of things. Kale, kite, keep, kick-”

“Kiss! Ugh. It’s good that you didn’t have to kiss them.”

“And why is that good?”

“Dude, are you serious? You’re killing me here.”

“I’m just a curious guy, looking for some answers. Can’t blame me when you’re the one being vague.”

“I just…” Bart paused. “It’s weird to think of you in that kind of situation, okay?”

“And why is that?” Ed leaned in closer, nudging his shoulder against Bart. Bart leered at him.

“I think you know why.” he muttered, a light blush dusting his cheeks. This was just about the most forward he’d been with Ed concerning whatever feelings they’d been dancing around, and he didn’t have it in him to be more explicit than what he already gave.

Ed considered this for a moment, downed the rest of his drink, and balanced the cup on the railing.

“What are you doing?” Bart asked, interest piqued.

“Spinning the bottle. Or, should I say, the glass.” Ed spun the glass on the railing and waited until it stopped, pointing at Bart. 

“Well, would you look at that.” Bart commented cheekily, picking up the glass. “What are you gonna do about it?

In response, Ed gently leaned in towards the speedster, putting his hands on either side of Bart’s face, and mustered up whatever liquid courage he had to finally kiss the kid he’d been wanting to kiss for a long time. Bart froze up for a split second, not expecting Ed to have made the first move, but let his eyes flutter shut and leaned into the kiss himself. Not knowing what to do with his own hands, Bart draped his arms around Ed’s neck and tilted his head slightly to deepen the angle, tasting just the same slight tinge of mint from the mojito on Ed’s lips.

After what seemed like eternity, Ed broke the kiss, breathing slightly labored.

“That…was crash,” Bart grinned.

“Really?” Ed said, relieved. “Great. ‘Cause I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.”

Bart’s eyes lit up. He was glad for the confirmation; he knew they definitely had been skirting around the topic of liking each other, so this was a warm welcome from the constant, never-ending wall of flirting they’d put up around each other.

Who would have thought their first kiss would have been at a party? Certainly not Bart. But it was, and he had no complaints- no complaints at all.


	4. Jealousy

Bart was a popular guy, and it showed.

It may have been a combination of his good genetics and hyperactive personality, but Bart seemed to attract people wherever he went. That friendliness was the very reason he was selected, along with Eduardo and Traci, to go undercover at a high school that Oracle had reason to believe had dormant meta-humans in. The mission was to get to the meta-humans before the Light could, and to guide them to safety before the Light tried kidnapping them. The only problem was, they couldn’t tell who was a meta and who wasn’t in a school that enrolled over 3,000 students.

Bart was chosen to get closer to the students in an attempt to uncover any recent meta-human discoveries. Traci was chosen as the designated magic user so she could upkeep Ed’s glamour charm, and Ed was chosen to teleport them out of the school as an emergency exit should anything drastic happen. The three were instructed to keep up the act as transfer students until they found the source of Oracle’s suspicion. It was easy enough; the mission wasn’t supposed to last more than two weeks and the students were all very friendly and welcoming.

Maybe a little too friendly and welcoming for Ed’s taste.

The bell rang, indicating that the school day was over. Students hurriedly packed up their stuff and grouped up into their friend circles to head home. Ed was no exception. The past week, Bart had gotten exceptionally close to a girl named Kiran Singh, a friendly classmate Bart had recently become close with due to her mentioning instances of manifesting meta-like abilities in the past. It was great- she was sweet to everyone, including Ed and Traci, and hopefully she was who they were looking for. But every minute Bart spent with Kiran, was a minute lost with Ed; and he was, admittedly, feeling a little left behind.

“Hey, you wanna stop by O’Shaughnessy’s on the way back home?” Ed approached Bart casually, putting a hand on his shoulder. He’d spent all of eighth period working up the courage to take the initiative to spend more time with Bart. “I think Traci mentioned wanting to, as well.”

Bart shoved his papers and books haphazardly into his backpack, looking up at Ed apologetically for a brief moment.

“Ah, sorry dude, no can do. I’ve gotta help Kiran at the school library. And, you know, gather some intel while I’m at it. Maybe tomorrow, though?” Bart zipped up his bag and bounced away to meet Kiran at the doorway.

“Oh, uh, okay.“ Ed lowered his hand and watched as Bart put his arm around Kiran in a greeting, chattering away like the extrovert he was. He didn’t know what to call the emotion welling up in his chest, but it sure as Hell wasn’t pleasant.

“I sense a little jealousy,” Traci sing-songed into Ed’s ear. Ed yelped, not expecting Traci to have snuck up on him like that. She squeezed his elbow playfully. “Haha, got you good.”

“Jealousy? What?” Ed scoffed, crossing his arms. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Sure, that’s what they all say.” Traci smirked, pulling up a chair to sit next to Ed. “But my magical senses are tingling.”

“What do you want, Traci?” Ed slumped in his seat, fidgeting with his lead pencil.

“Woah, woah, what’s with the hostility? Just wanted to update you on the situation.” Traci looked at her nails and grimaced at her cuticles. “Also, I will never get used to your glamour charm appearance. It’s so not you.”

“I don’t think I look all that different. It’s just the hair and darker skin, really.” Ed shrugged.

“Yeah, well, the hair was iconic.” Traci trailed off when she noticed Ed staring at Bart, and she grinned mischievously.

“Kiran’s cute, isn’t she?”

“Well, yeah. I guess.”

Traci looked around to make sure no one was listening in, and leaned in towards Ed. “So Bart says she’s had experiences with glow-y energy beams coming out of her hands at random moments and destroying things around her. Says she’s unable to control it. But the nature of her powers is still pretty ambiguous, we don’t know where it comes from. It could be meta, or it could be magic, we’re not sure yet.”

“Sounds pretty meta-human to me. Now, can we report this and go?” Ed sighed.

“No, there’s definitely more kids with abnormal meta-tendencies than just Kiran. That’s what Oracle said, anyway. We’ve gotta find all of them before the Light does, you know that.” Traci chastised. “Don’t let your personal feelings get in the way of the mission.”

“I’m not!” Ed protested, lowering his voice immediately when his outburst attracted the attention of a few classmates. “Really. It’s just…”

“Aw, Ed. You think you’re so subtle with your feelings, but you’re really not.”

“What?”

“The whole Team knows you and Bart have a thing for each other. It’s, like, the biggest elephant in the room.”

Ed’s ears turned red. “That’s…”

“…Completely true?” Traci finished. “But the thing is, neither of you have the confidence to act on it, so both of you are stuck in this constant limbo of wondering whether or not the other really likes them.”

“Bart likes me?” Ed looked up, genuinely surprised. Traci rolled her eyes.

“God, why are boys so dense? I really don’t get it.” She shook her head. “You, Bart, Tim, even Jaime. It took six months for me to get a confession out of that kid, and even then it was like pulling teeth.”

“Well, it’s too late. He’s clearly interested in Kiran.” Ed sighed.

“What makes you say that? I don’t think it’s too late at all.” Traci perked up.

“Really? Not even after seeing him with her like that?”

“You and I both know Bart’s a super touchy guy. That’s just the way he is. He does that with everyone, you included.”

“Yeah, but-“

“Ed, look, are you gonna listen to me, who clearly knows more about this kinda stuff than you? Or are you gonna keep being all mopey about it?”

Ed pursed his lips. “I’m not being mopey. But fine.”

“That’s what I thought.” Traci smirked, getting up from the seat and stretching.

“Well, I’m gonna head back.” she said, yawning. “Space Trek’s on at 7 and I don’t wanna miss the season premiere.”

“Already? Shouldn’t we investigate a little more?”

“I mean, what can we do? Everyone’s going home. Not much to investigate when your subjects aren’t there.”

“Good point.”

Traci put on her pink cap, slinging her bag over her shoulder. Ed zipped up his backpack as well, packed and ready to leave.

“But hey, let me tell you something good to help you out. Bart always helps Kiran clean the library after school, ‘cause she’s the student librarian. And he usually stays later than her to read some sci-fi series before he leaves. I bet you can get him by himself then, if you catch my drift.”

Nudging Ed knowingly, Traci strolled out of the classroom.

*

5:10 was when Bart would usually pack up his things to leave the library. The school had a surprisingly great, diverse selection of sci-fi novels that he had grown attached to recently, and he was determined to read every single one of them before the mission ended. He couldn’t read at super-speed when Kiran was around as he was still technically undercover.

Kiran had already left thirty minutes earlier due to a family emergency, but Bart lingered behind to finish up a book. It turned out, reading a book slowly was really different from speed-reading it through for the plot; he got a lot more out of the story. He also took the time to text Oracle about what he had discovered about Kiran. She had better control of her powers in the sun, and almost no control of her energy at night. He theorized that her powers came from the sun itself, but there was no way of confirming that unless Kiran expressed interest in researching that herself.

Bart closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and let out a deep sigh. Being undercover was exhausting, and he barely got to spend time with Traci and Ed due to all the sneaky business. His new friends were great, but he’d have to cut off ties with them after the undercover mission ended. He felt exceptionally bad when he was forced to reject Ed’s invitation to his favorite fast-food restaurant, especially since it had been a while since the two even talked outside of the mission.

It was hard to balance his time, and at first he was extremely stoked to be on a mission with Ed- especially because he felt something between them in the past two years. If slow-pining was a sport, they’d be the gold medalists. But he didn’t know if Ed really felt the same way as he did, or if Ed was just that friendly to everyone around him. He thought this mission would be a great way to get closer to Ed, maybe even break the million dollar question himself. If he had known they wouldn’t interact much, if at all, he would have been less enthused.

The door to the library opened, and Bart snapped out of his thoughts, almost falling back on his chair. No one was supposed to be in the library after hours.

“Kiran?” Bart called cautiously. He had to be careful; the Light could have sent a goon to lurk around.

“It’s just me.” Ed came into view, and Bart visibly relaxed.

“Phew. I thought I’d have to fight someone.”

“Well, let’s hope not.”

“Hey, take that charm off. No one’ll be the wiser.” Bart suggested. “It’s weird.”

Ed did as he was told, reverting back to his normal appearance. He placed the charm on the table. “That’s the second time I was told that today.”

“What can I say? People like the way you look normally.” Bart smiled. “What’s up? You’re not much of a reader.”

“Just wanted to check up on you. Traci said you’d be here.” Ed replied, sitting down across from Bart.

“Yeah. I already reported to Oracle, but Kiran seems to be having trouble controlling her powers when the sun’s not out. She’s the only one we’ve really found that openly admits that she has something weird going on with her, though.”

“That’s interesting. Traci and I have come up cold so far, so here’s to hoping we find more.”

“For sure. Hey, come to think of it, this is the first time we’ve really talked to each other since the mission started, huh? Besides the occasional hi in the hallway.”

“Tell me about it.” Ed looked down at his hands. “I mean, you’ve been busy with Kiran since day one, so I can’t blame you.”

Bart tilted his head slightly, noticing a dip in Ed’s tone. “You okay?”

“Yeah, of course.”

“You sure? ‘Cause you don’t sound okay.”

“I’m fine. Anyway, how is she?” Ed changed the subject. “Kiran, I mean.”

“Oh, she’s crash. Super open about her powers. Really smart, too, especially when it comes to physics. She’s the only other person in class who understands the concept of photons.”

“Well, it is a hard concept.” Ed’s voice dropped. Each time Bart dropped a compliment about Kiran, Ed’s heart sank a little more.

“There it is again!” Bart leaned forward, examining Ed’s facial expression. “You don’t sound happy about it.

“What are you talking about?”

“Are you…jealous?” Bart couldn’t stop himself from smiling.

Ed frowned.

“Ha, I see what’s happening here. I mean, I know I’ve been spending a lot of time with her, but she’s just a friend! You know you and me are closer than that. You don’t have to be jealous, you know we’re way better buddies than that.”

“Not as a friend,” Ed muttered, embarrassed as soon as the words left his mouth.

“Huh?”

“I’m not jealous as a friend.” Ed slumped back in his chair, avoiding Bart’s gaze. His face was beginning to warm up; it was too late to backtrack now. “If you…catch my drift.”

Bart’s eyes widened, and he felt his ears start to get red. He sat back down- he did catch his drift.

“O-oh.”

Ed groaned, burying his hands in his face. “This isn’t how I wanted this to go at all. I don’t wanna confess in a school library of all places, just ‘cause I’m jealous of a girl who’s been nothing but nice to us.”

Bart was full-on blushing at that point, and the speedster was, for once, at a loss for words. The confession was as clear as day, even if it wasn’t the way Ed intended it to be, and he had put all his cards on the table. The sun was filtering nicely through the big windows behind Bart, casting a golden ray on Ed’s figure. Just great- he saw Ed as even more attractive guy than he usually did.

Ed got up and put his glamour charm back on, turning on his heel. He couldn’t stay one more second in the excruciating silence, not when his heart was threatening to beat straight out of his chest cavity.

“I-I’ll see you at the Tower tonight then,” he said as he walked out of the library.

“Yeah.”

As Ed left briskly, it was Bart’s turn to bury his face in his hands. He was happy, sure, ecstatic even, that his feelings were returned- but he had no idea how he was supposed to even look at Ed after he dropped such a huge bomb on him out of the blue.


	5. First Date

Bringing Bart to an aquarium for a first date was equal parts endearing and absolutely exhausting.

It just so happened that a couple of days ago, Eduardo’s father had received two complimentary tickets to the Central City Aquarium from a generous patron of the Metahuman Youth Center. He couldn’t go due to an influx of work, so he left them on Ed’s desk for his son to use.

“What are these?” Bart asked, picking up the tickets. He’d come over for video games and good company when the shiny tickets caught his eye.

“Oh, just tickets to the aquarium in Central City. You know, the huge tourist trap?” Ed replied, throwing his backpack onto the bed.

“Tourist trap or not, I’ve never been to an aquarium.” Bart sighed dreamily. He put the tickets down. “It seems crash.”

“Get out of here. Never?” Ed’s eyes widened. He wasn’t planning on going, because he had been there on a couple of school trips already, and it wasn’t exciting past a certain age.

“Well, I’ve been to Atlantis on a couple missions but I wasn’t allowed to leave the Bio-Ship ‘cause my body wasn’t suited for the depths or whatever.” Bart crossed his arms. “Lagoon Boy, M’Gann, and Kaldur got to swim around and all I was allowed to do was to keep watch.”

“That was probably for the best, dude. The pressure at those depths is probably insane.” Ed chuckled, picking up the tickets. Bart had already situated himself on his beanbag, fiddling with the controls. While Bart messed around with the settings, Ed realized this was the perfect opportunity to get Bart alone on a date, with little to no interruptions. He’d been dancing around the idea for a while, but he never had the time or the means to act on the feelings that had been budding in his chest for months, now. And while he wasn’t entirely confident that Bart felt the same way, their interactions definitely felt more than friendly at times. This was the golden opportunity to figure out if Bart had felt the same way- and he wasn’t about to let it go.

“Do you…want to go?” 

*

The answer, of course, was a quick and enthusiastic yes. And just like that, their first real date outside of mission stakeouts and group hangouts was at the Central City Aquarium.

They were greeted by a big array of tropical fish as they entered. Bart was already on cloud nine, and they hadn’t even explored the place properly. As they passed by various penguins, eels, and crabs, Bart made sure to give each and every animal an energetic greeting and a proper look-over. He laughed and cheered at the various tricks displayed at the sea lion show, gleefully mentioning the time Garfield beat up Condiment King as a sea lion. He pat the turtles gently and commented sarcastically on their slow speed. He imitated the guppies’ facial expressions by bringing his cheeks together and puckering his lips. He imitated the penguins’ strange waddling, and all the while Ed couldn’t help but laugh at how silly Bart looked- and how endearing it all was. 

“Hey, do you think the dolphins like being in the tanks?” Bart knocked on the glass as they passed the bottle-nosed dolphins. They were on their way to the special Underwater Beauties exhibit, but they kept getting sidetracked by Bart’s inability to walk past anything without making a comment. Ed grabbed his hand and guided him away from the glass, noticing the dolphin swimming away.

“No, but they probably don’t appreciate the tapping, either.” he said, pointing to the “DO NOT KNOCK ON THE GLASS” sign that Bart had overlooked. 

“It’s nice to look at them and all, but I can’t imagine it’s super ethical.” Bart tapped on his chin thoughtfully, then turned to Ed with a mischievous grin.

“Let’s break them out. Be my lookout.”

“What? No.” 

“Y’know, Prison Break-style? With your powers and mine, we can release them back into the wild. You and I can be the Robin Hoods of the dolphin world.”

“Bart, we are not-“ Ed lowered his voice, glancing around to see if any security guards were listening. “We are not stealing these dolphins from the tank.” 

“Why not? Look at them, they’re too smart to be stuck in these tiny tanks.” Bart pouted. 

“Even if we could somehow get into the tanks, they weigh like, 200 pounds. I can barely bench 180.” Ed rolled his eyes. “Plus, they’ve been bred in captivity way too long to be released back into the wild at this point.”

Bart sighed. “True.”

They passed by the dolphin exhibit into the stingray exhibit, where a group of children were sticking their hands in the water to touch the stingrays.

“Can we go do that?” Bart’s eyes lit up excitedly. Ed shrugged in agreement, but Bart didn’t even wait for his reaction to zoom to the station and plant himself next to a couple of elementary schoolers who had their hands in the tank.

“How do you do this? Do you just stick your hand in?” Bart asked the girl next to him. The girl giggled at Bart’s childlike curiosity.

“Yeah! They’re like dogs and they love being pet! But you have to be real still, or else they won’t come to you.”

“Oh man, I don’t know if I can be still enough for them to come to me.” Bart rolled up his sleeves and carefully dunked his hand into the water, waiting for one of the many gray stingrays to come. Ed walked over to Bart; he didn’t want to touch the stingrays but it was funny to watch them actively avoid Bart’s hand and swerve around to be pet by the younger children.

“You’ve gotta be still, hermano.” Ed said, leaning down.

“I am!” Bart’s vibrations made ripples in the water, repelling the stingrays.

“That’s not still,” The girl pointed out. Ed couldn’t help but laugh at Bart’s consternation.

“Stiller than that.” Ed rolled up his own sleeve and put his hand over Bart’s to calm the speedster’s shaky hand motion. As soon as Bart calmed his hand, Ed retracted his, not wanting to linger for more than he should have. He didn’t notice Bart’s ears turning red, however, because the moment Bart’s hand stilled, a stingray meandered its way underneath Bart’s palm to be pet. Bart’s smile widened and he stroked the stingray carefully.

“Finally!” he said.

“See, you just had to be a little patient.” Ed nodded.

“Ah, but it’s all slimy and wet. Not the most pleasant sensation.” Bart got up with a grimace, quickly wiping his hand on his jeans. 

“Makes sense, no?” Ed followed suit. But Bart was already on his way to the piranha area, attention grabbed by the “FEED ME” signs.

“Dude, I’ve always wanted to feed piranhas!” Bart said, grabbing a handful of piranha food and looming over the tank.

“Wait, be careful!” Ed dashed over, realizing Bart was leaning a little too close into the tank for comfort. “They’ll bite-“

It was too late. Bart released the food into the water, and a bunch of piranhas jumped up. His hand was close enough for one lucky piranha to latch on. Bart yelped, shaking his hand to get the piranha off his finger.

“Jesus, Bart!” Ed gently brought Bart’s finger up to inspect the damage. He was bleeding, but the wound was already fixing itself. The nip was strong, but was no match for Bart’s accelerated healing. An employee came dashing over, and Bart hid his hand away to hide the fact that his accelerated healing was already doing its job. After a rushed excuse, the two made their way into the big archway of tropical fish separating the rest of the aquarium from the special exhibit. 

“Man, you have to be more careful. That was a close one,” Ed sighed. 

“Sorry. First time feeding piranhas, got a little too excited.” Bart grinned sheepishly. He glanced at the hand Ed was holding to get them out of the area, and Ed noticed too, detaching himself from Bart.

“Well, good thing you heal fast.” Ed coughed, feeling his cheeks beginning to flush. 

“So, uh, what’s next on the map?” Bart asked, trying to dissipate the sudden bout of awkwardness.

“Oh, it’s-“ Ed stared at the map. “The special exhibit, straight ahead. You wanna save this for later, or go now?”

“Let’s just go now. I wanna see what’s so special about this special exhibit.”

*

The room was dark, and sparsely filled- this was the part of the aquarium where patrons had to pay extra, and therefore it was a lot quieter than the other touristy areas. It was for good reason, however; it was a smaller room, but it was well-maintained and was truly magnificent. The luminescence from the jellyfish barely lit up the dim area, but it was enough for Ed to see Bart’s awe-filled reaction. They were surrounded by colorful, lit-up ocean creatures on all sides, and the otherwise pitch-dark room was filled with beautiful organisms. Bart’s jaw hung slack, soaking up the visuals.

“Do you like it?” Ed asked carefully, confused at Bart’s silence.

“Like it? Dude, this is so crash!” Bart exclaimed, piping down when an old woman shushed him angrily. He turned back to the tanks surrounding them. “They’re the prettiest things I’ve ever seen.”

“I’ve seen prettier things,” Ed murmured under his breath, staring at Bart’s dimly-lit profile. He’d seen this a couple of times already, so the magic was lost on him- but to Bart, this was a one-of-a-kind experience. And watching his crush look up at the colorful jellyfish was another experience altogether.

“Like what?” Bart asked, turning. He hadn’t expected Bart to hear.

Ed wanted so badly to respond truthfully, to say, “You. You’re such a sight for sore eyes.” But he was just a teenager with no smooth moves or confidence in him whatsoever, so he responded with a simple, “Just…some things.”

Bart smiled. “Come to think of it, I think I’ve seen prettier things, too.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. Like you.” Bart poked his finger into Ed’s chest playfully.

Ed raised his eyebrows, surprised as all Hell at Bart’s forwardness.

“P-pretty-“ he sputtered.

“I guess pretty’s not the right word, huh?” Bart said. “Handsome? Guapo, as Jaime puts it?”

“Wait, hold up.” Ed waved his hand in front of him, flustered. “I…”

“Oh.” Bart’s face fell; Ed could tell even in the darkness. “Sorry, I thought-“

“No, you’re not-“

“I just thought that-“

“I’m serious, you’re-“

“That maybe you felt the same way-“

“I wasn’t- wait, what?”

Bart looked up sheepishly. “I don’t know, I thought we had something going on and I wasn’t ever sure until you asked me to go to the aquarium. I thought this was a date.”

Ed opened his mouth, then closed it.

“Sorry, I’m making things weird, aren’t I? Let’s just pretend-“

“No, it is!” Ed grabbed Bart’s hand for the third time that day, this time with more force. “A-and you’re right. I do feel the same way.”

“Really?” Bart perked up again, relieved.

“Yeah. I just didn’t know if I could call this a date, or if you ever felt the same, ‘cause, y’know.”

“What?”

“You’re just super friendly with everyone.” Ed shrugged.

Bart huffed. “But I thought I made it obvious that I liked you. I gave you half of my giant cookie the other day!”

“I…didn’t know that was supposed to be a sign that you liked me.” 

“Well, it was.”

“Now we know.” Ed smiled. This time, he didn’t let go of Bart’s hand; rather, he laced their fingers together. 

“Yeah.”

The two observed the jellyfish for a few more moments before Bart got restless again.

“Ah, well, this was crash, but I kinda wanna get back to the piranhas for biting me.” Bart tugged on Ed’s hand. “Come with?

Ed laughed. “I don’t think I have a choice.”


	6. Flustered

Bart was a lean kid, and sheer strength was never his forté. He didn’t need it; his super speed and quick wits easily compensated for his lack of Superboy-Level strength. That was why he was usually never caught dead in the gym, except to watch his fellow team members struggle with their workouts and make snarky comments. The gym was the last place Bart would have been caught dead in on a Monday night, if it weren’t for the fact that his teammates were literally nowhere to be seen for their usual weekly Monday video game tournament meetup.

“There you all are! What are you guys doing here?” Bart asked, popping a Chicken Whizee in his mouth. He walked in the glass doors of the Hollywood tower’s personal gym, only to be greeted by the clanking of weights and the gritted yelling of Victor Stone. “No one was in the game room.”

“We…gotta…get…jacked.” Vic grunted, arms straining under the weight of the 280-pound plates he was trying to bench. Gar chugged his protein shake at an alarming pace and nodded at Bart in acknowledgement, while Cassie counted her 698th one-armed push-up.

“Easy there, big boy. You’re pumping more iron than usual already.” Ed’s hands hovered above the bar, just in case Vic’s arms gave out from the weight.

“Jacked for what? How come I wasn’t invited?” Bart crossed his arms. Vic let out a yell and slotted the bar back in its place. Ed held the bar to help him balance.

“Dude, you never work out.” Gar raised an eyebrow. “Besides, this is for publicity. Ever heard of the ALS ice bucket challenge?”

“Uh, yeah. I don’t live under a rock.” Bart retorted as Gar pulled out his phone.

“Well, we were nominated by Perdita to do the challenge, but we have to look good for the camera. We’re trying to get our muscles toned before we pour a bunch of water on ourselves.” Gar played the footage of the queen declaring her hefty donation to the ALS research community, followed by the ever-so-iconic spilling of ice water all over her body. Shivering and smiling, Perdita nominated Garfield and his team to do the challenge as well and to spread the good word.

“How come I didn’t hear about this?” Bart asked, feeling a little left out.

“It was in the group chat. You probably didn’t see it, as always.” Cassie pointed out, rising from her 700th push-up. Bart took his own phone out and checked the Outsiders’ Groupme chatroom, to find that he was indeed tagged in the message inviting the team to the gym and that he, as Cassie said, had not seen the messages. Bart sighed.

“Isn’t this supposed to be about helping people with ALS, not about looking good for the camera?” 

“Yeah, but people tend to be more interested when there’s something nice to look at. Can’t have us heroes looking scrawny. And isn’t that the point? To generate interest?” Gar grinned. “Hey Cas, let me see you flex.”

As Cassie flexed her arms for Gar to observe, Bart turned his attention towards Ed and Vic. Vic finished up the last of his rep and got up from the bench.

“I’m surprised you’re going along with this, amigo.” Bart walked over to the two, watching Ed’s Adam’s apple bob as he took a hefty sip from his water bottle.

“To be honest, I didn’t know about this whole ALS thing until I got to the tower. This was just supposed to be my regular Monday evening workout.” Ed shrugged, capping his bottle. “But I thought, ‘might as well’. I’ve got nothing to do anyway.”

“Alright, Ed, your turn.” Vic slapped Ed on the back in a friendly manner, albeit a little too roughly. Ed rubbed the area and took his position under the bars as Vic took off the heavier plates to match the weight Ed could handle.

Bart stared as Vic loomed by the bar and Ed positioned his arms parallel to his shoulders on the bar. It occurred to Bart that out of all his teammates, he hadn’t ever really seen Ed work out. Jaime, sure; Cassie and Vic, all the time. But they were the strongholds of the team and needed to maintain their physical strength at all times. Ed was similar to Bart in that he normally relied more on his wits and teleportation than sheer strength. It made sense, however, that Ed would want to keep himself in the best shape possible in case they came up against a particularly brutal enemy.

But watching Ed bring the bar down to his chest and lift it made Bart feel some type of way. He looked so concentrated, teeth gritted and eyes squinted as his lean yet toned arms strained against the weight of the plates. Ed’s normally chill face was scrunched up in total concentration as he exhaled sharply with the movement of the bar. He almost looked angry, like the bar was his enemy and he only had one thing on his mind- to overcome it. His muscles seemed tense; had he not stretched enough before? And was the AC broken, or was Bart just blushing profusely despite the ambient temperature?

‘Shit.’ Bart brought a hand to his cheek. He was flustered as Hell.

“Dios mio, how much weight did you put on, dude? I told you my PR’s 180,” Ed grunted as he brought the bar back up. Vic chuckled.

“Only twenty more than usual. Come on, man, your arms are gonna look nice as Hell when you finish this set.” Vic encouraged, nodding at Bart to say something.

“Yeah, they’ll look…nice.” Bart’s voice cracked. He turned away to hide his profuse blushing, only to be faced with a grinning Cassie.

“You would think so, huh?” she whispered as she tied her hair back into a ponytail. Cassie was the only person on the team other than Jaime and Traci who was aware of Bart’s little crush on Ed, and she never missed a chance to make fun of Bart. “Take a picture, it’ll last longer.”

“Shut up, Cas,” Bart hissed back. 

“I’m just pointing out the obvious. You’re totally ogling.” Cassie muttered. And she was right. Bart couldn’t take his eyes off Ed for too long, it seemed, because his eyes trailed back to Vic and Ed as he heard Ed’s strained groaning from his finished rep. Bart bit his bottom lip.

“My arms are definitely feeling this tomorrow.” Ed sighed, reclining up to wipe the sweat from his brow. 

“Come on, from 200?” Vic teased. “That’s like lifting a textbook.”

“More like 20. Some of us don’t have Fatherbox strength to get us through.” Ed rolled his eyes. “Cas, Gar, you’re done already?”

“Yup!” Cassie flexed her arms dramatically for the boys to see. “Bart here wants to give it a try, though.”

“No, no I don’t.” Bart corrected, glaring at Cassie for her obvious attempt to push him towards Ed. Ed brought the hem of his muscle tank up to his face, revealing a set of nicely-toned abs underneath. Bart almost choked.

“Bar’s all yours if you want, hermano.” Ed waved towards the bench. “Soon as I finish my sets.”

“Nope. Don’t need it. I don’t gym.” Bart shook his head adamantly.

“You, uh, look a little red there, Lil’ Red.” Vic pointed out. “Like, the color of your face and your hair are pretty much the same.”

“Just, uh, the AC’s probably broken.” Bart retorted.

“The AC’s on full blast.” Gar corrected.

“Are you feeling sick?” Ed asked, a tinge of concern evident in his voice. God, why was he so caring at the worst of times? 

“Maybe the ice bucket challenge will help cool you off.” Vic suggested.

“Nah, it’s fine. I didn’t bring a change of clothes, so-“

“Who says your clothes will be on?” Cassie interrupted, chewing on her granola bar. “Everyone’s gonna be shirtless.”

As soon as Cassie mentioned shirtless, something in Bart snapped. 

“I-I’m outta here.” Bart knew that seeing Ed shirtless right after a sweaty workout would break the straw on the camel’s back, and took it upon himself to escape before anyone could stop him. As he stormed out of the gym, everyone else glanced at each other in confusion at Bart’s sudden departure- everyone except Cassie, who grinned to herself at Bart’s flustered exit.

“Why’d he leave?” Gar asked, confused. Cassie giggled knowingly, shrugging in order to preserve her friend’s integrity. After all, she was the only one who knew Bart’s redness was simply him not knowing how to deal with his flustered emotions for Ed, and it was more fun teasing Bart than to reveal it herself.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to request a certain scene or prompt, send me an ask over at shangalangalang on Tumblr :^)


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